Monday, March 10, 2014

First Movie

The kids and I are visiting my family in Pittsburgh. The kids have been keeping busy making forts with the pillows from my parents' couch, running from one side of the house to the other and generally wreaking havoc. We also marked a major milestone by taking the kids to see their first movie in a movie theater.

While jb was still in town we took the kids (and my siblings and my dad) to see Frozen - which was a great first movie. It's been out since November, so I was worried we would miss our opportunity to see it on the big screen if we didn't go soon, but also didn't want to rush in to this experience. I wanted to make sure it was a great memory.

I was a little concerned that Leo would be a bit overwhelmed - between loud and encompassing sound, the huge screen and the inevitable conflict scene I wasn't sure how he'd do. Zoe, of course is a bit on the young side for movies. At home when we have a movie night she ends up wandering and losing interest. I planned on taking her into the hall if she got too fidgety.

In preparation we watched a lot of videos from the movie. They already knew all the songs, watched all the trailers and had seen clips of the scary scenes. So when we finally got to the theater, they were really able to relax and enjoy it.

Leo is at the perfect age, he was riveted from beginning to end and was able to (mostly) follow the storyline. Zoe, well, she was thrilled to see "Let It Go" on the big screen and she did make it to the end with minimal squirming.

We sat in the front row of the stadium seating so we had the railing in front of us and a little extra room to stretch our legs. Leo mostly sat in laps, but during Let It Go both kids stood at the railing holding the bars and sang along. It was awesome.

My favorite moment (even better than the kids singing along to the songs) was after jb took Leo for a bathroom break and as they were walking back to our seats. Zoe spotted them crossing the theater and very excitedly called out, "Hi! Hi! Dad! Hi! Lelo! Hi!"

Towards the end Zoe was stretched out using jb like an arm chair, showing her belly, and still going strong on the popcorn. Both kids loved the popcorn. Obviously. In fact, if you ask Zoe which movie we went to see she will answer either "go" (as in "let it __") or "popcorn." So that sums up her takeaways. When you ask Leo if he would like to go to the Theater again some day he says, "As long as we can see Frozen." Operation movie theater can be filed under "success."

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Meet Sandra

I’m a West Philly Mama (not born and raised, but the playground is where I spend most of my days). I’m a former professional activist turned stay-at-home-mom. I am happily married to my best friend and together we parent a precocious preschooler and a vivacious toddler. I blog about parenting as a queer, Latina, feminist reclaiming family values.

jb

My husband, co-parent and best friend. jb is my true love, the best dad ever, and resident working stiff.

The Kids

Leo and Zoe are the dynamic brother and sister duo that keep things interesting around here.